No Partiality
John 11:39-43 NKJV
[39] Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” [40] Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” [41] Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. [42] And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” [43] Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
There is a theme that goes through the whole Bible.
It is one of the main characters.
Without it the story of Salvation and Redemption would be different.
Without it there would be no need to be saved.
It is something that many fear. It is something we all will experience.
Death.
Death shows no partiality.
Death shows no mercy.
As a follower of Christ we should be seeing things differently. Those that have truly believed, repented and follow will see the enemy of death differently.
The world sees death as an end. We must see it as a beginning! It starts with Love!
A day is coming.
A day where all of us will see the face of Jesus.
What joy it will be to escape this body.
Being at peace, to no longer have to be involved in the things of this world.
Every burden, pain, sorrow will have no choice but to flee in the presence of perfection.
When the Lord calls us back to Himself we will realize that it was worth it.
The Sacrifice was worth it.
The journey was worth it.
The rejection, the isolation, the persecution for His name sake was worth everything we endured for the King of Glory!
I believe our only regret will be “I should have done more”!
There is a faithfulness of God that we can’t understand.
Why?
Why does God go through so many lengths for us? Why did He even bother?
Love.
Whatever you think you know about the love of Jesus, YOU ARE WRONG!
It is more than we can comprehend.
As a mother loves her child, that love is unexplainable.
The pain of childbirth. The long sleepless nights. Through sickness. The worry and the fear. The rebellion. The rejection, and momma still loves the child no matter what. Unconditional love!
The love of Christ is more than that!
Unsearchable, meaning we will never come to a complete understanding.
We will be in Heaven for 1000 years and still not know how deep His love is for us!
It would take another 1000 years to scratch the surface of how He loves!
This is something that should keep us going. The motivation of His love.
Love brings obedience.
Love is kind and gentle. Love is Merciful!
Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
Jesus hears the news of His friend dying, and He weeps for the loss.
In His humanity the King of Glory weeps for one He loves.
Jesus wasn’t ashamed of His humanity.
He was truly a man, He knew grief and sorrow. How our God can identify with us. He can calm and soothe us through the pain.
Jesus sees her weep!
The grief and tears of Mary and Martha moved Jesus. God sees the tears of the grief stricken and is moved with compassion.
The Lord sees our tears and is touched by them.
He gathers and remembers them and bottles them up never to be forgotten. And He can dry our tears.
All through compassion and love.
Unlike death, love shows mercy!
Lazarus didn’t deserve to be resuscitated back to life.
Lazarus did nothing to deserve this Resurrection except see Jesus as the Messiah, as the Savior and his friend.
The stone is moved from his tomb.
And the clutches of death and its aftermath are surrounding the body of Lazarus.
Jesus prays.
He doesn’t pray for Lazarus to be restored.
He prays so the people would believe!
“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. [42] And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
Jesus prays that they would finally believe that He is the Son of God!
Many times something radical has to happen before some will believe in the power of God!
Sometimes we let ourselves go so far to see if the Lord will bring us back.
We push the limits of our own capabilities.
We stumble and fall.
We sin and don’t repent. We fall into a spiritual sickness and die a spiritual death.
At some point we have all felt the pain and sorrow of the darkness of the tomb.
Nowhere to go. Trapped, confined and bound. Through the power of God death can be reversed. Life can be regained from the call of the Savior.
Jesus cried out for him,
‘Lazarus come forth!’
Jesus brought him up from the cold, dark grave. All He had to do was speak the words. His sickness, death, burial, and restoration to life, was used by God to bring many to faith.
We call it a Testimony.
But in order for us to have a Testimony we must hear the call!
Oh, what can the Lord do with an ear that is obedient to listen to His voice!
This is the power of Love! His Sacrifice was worth it. The journey He has us on is worth it.
Even the rejection, the isolation, the persecution for His name sake will be worth everything we endured for the King of Glory!
Now that life has been restored don’t regret saying “I should have done more”!
Once God has called you from life to death it is undeniable. It is unexplainable.
But it is just a call.
A call that will change your eternity, but still a call.
Lazarus heard the voice of Jesus calling out. And Lazarus obeyed.
This is the beginning of the unsearchable love of Jesus!
Jesus loves and has compassion over you and weeps for you to return to life that’s only found in Him.
To see none perish and fall victim to the coldness of death and the tomb!
Ask the Lord to raise you from the dead. Ask Him to loose you from the bondage of your sin. Rise from the grave and rip off your death clothes. Put on the new man and tell the world how He has delivered you from death!
Death shows no partiality.
Death shows no mercy.
But there is One that does,
Jesus the Christ, The Messiah and Savior!
Pastor Ed
